My Babysitter's a Ghost
by salvainterra
Summary: When Danny accepts Clockwork as his mentor, he doesn't expect his first task over the summer to be to protect a couple of enigmatic kids, and take up residence in a small town called Gravity Falls, which is laden with supernatural energies. Meanwhile, the Pines twins are curious about their mysterious new tenant, who seems to be a lot more than he appears. Rating may go up.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hey! This is my first(and hopefully not last) non-oneshot story. Gravity Falls and Danny Phantom are two shows I am illogically devoted to, and I was prompted to write a crossover for it! Hopefully things will make enough sense, but just so it's clear, Phantom Planet didn't happen, and this is the summer after Danny's sophomore year. As for the twins, this is kind of a 'between the canon episodes' sort of thing, so Bill Cipher isn't a factor yet. Danny just had a whole ton of responsibilities dumped on him by Clockwork, one of which being that he needs to make sure that the other newbs are doing their jobs right. Danny, being a little wiser after two years of ghost fighting, goes by Phantom in his ghost form now, because not everyone is as oblivious as the people of Amity Park. Anyhow! I hope you enjoy, and I'll try to keep updating as fast as possible!**

**(As a side note, the relationships in this probably won't be playing a major role, just Sam and Danny, and a tiny pinch of Dani and Valerie thrown in, but nothing that really affects the story line.)**

**Enjoy!**

**Edit: The cover image is by thecottonproject on tumblr! **

Chapter 1

An old rusty taxi creaked to a stop, the door squeaking as it swung open. The greasy-haired man sitting behind the wheel peered at the sign signifying the border to the small town, dubiously.

"Are you sure this is where you meant me to go? Seems kind of run down."

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

A lanky teen with messy black hair and startlingly blue eyes slowly unfolded himself out of the backseat and out of the open door, sliding around the back and opening the trunk. With no obvious strain, he pulled out a heavy looking backpack, sliding it on with practiced ease. He came back around the side of the car where the man waited, an elbow hanging haphazardly out a window. The boy shoved his door closed with a hip and fished in his pocket for his wallet, pulling out the approximate amount of money and pressing it into the mans hand with a mutter to keep the change. The middle-aged man took one last wary glance at the sign before shaking his head and stamping on the gas, leaving a cloud of dust to billow around the teenager.

Danny Fenton sighed and shook his hair to get the grime out, inspecting the sign as well. Parts of it were newly painted on a different shade of wood, in a suspiciously hole shaped patch. He wondered how exactly somebody had managed to drive a hole through a sign that high up, before dismissing it and turning away. However it happened, Gravity Falls would probably shape up to be just as weird as where he had come from. He twitched involuntarily as a sharp blast of music emitted from his pocket, slicing through the silence. Casting a wary glance at the nearby forest, he pulled his Fenton Phones out of his pocket, looped them around his ears, and hit the side of them.

"Hello?"

He winced as a cacophany of voices all inturrupted each other on the other end.

"Yeah, okay guys, calm down. I'm fine, don't worry."

The shouting narrowed into murmurs, and a familiar sarcastic female voice took over.

"Where are you Danny?"

"This little town in Oregon. Kind of reminds me of Amity Park, actually."

"And let me guess, this is Clockwork's doing?"

"You got me there, Sam. Apparently, defeating a huge tyrant to protect your town from imminent destruction comes with some strings attached. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but Clockwork didn't really give me much _time_, if you know what I mean."

He chuckled as there were multiple groans on the other end, before continuing.

"Yeah so basically, I got some responsibilities and stuff as Clockwork's apprentice and so yeah."

There was a suspicious silence on the other end.

"Danny, what aren't you telling us?"

Danny shrugged noncommitally, before remembering he was talking to them over the phone, and scratched the back of his neck.

"Nothing important, but anyways I have to check up on places with high supernatural influence and help out whoever's in a position of authority slash knowledge on it. Good authority slash knowledge, I mean."

"... How do you know somebody will be in charge?"

Danny smiled a bit; successful subject change.

"Clockwork said there's always somebody who keeps the balance, it's just my job to check up on them from time to time, considering... I have a lot of experience in the immortal realm and stuff, y'know."

Grimacing slightly at his slip-up, he quickly changed the subject.

"Anyways, how's stuff going over there? Dani and Val doing ok on their own?"

There was a brief burst of static on the other end, and then a new voice answered, one that was clogged up with all kinds of different accents from when the person had been traveling the globe.

"Yeah, yeah you big mother hen, I'm doing great, and so's Val. She's been asking questions though, and I think she might realize soon. Right now she's been stuck on thinking Phantom's linked to Fenton and has to follow whereever he goes, but it probably won't be long until she realizes the truth."

Danny paused, both Dani's words and tone striking a chord with him. The words were expected, but that familiar wistful tone...

"... Well I guess it's really up to her about how she takes it. But if she starts beating herself up about it in front of you, let her know that I don't blame her for anything, totally forgiven, water under the bridge."

Sam muttered something uncomplimentary and Dani covered the phone and said something venomous back. There were a few more tense comments while Danny blinked slowly, coming to a conclusion.

"Sorry about that, I'm back."

"Hey, do you like Val?"

There was a sputtering sound on the other end, and then Sam's distinct voice.

"Well if the Clueless One himself noticed your shoddily hid affections, Valerie definitley has."

There were identical protests from the cousins, and Tucker's laughter in the background. Danny smiled a bit, missing them even though he'd only been gone a day.

"Hey, what about Mom and Dad, how're they?"

Dani seemed grateful for the subject change, sighing a bit into the phone.

"They're as clueless as you can be. I've been avoiding them in human form just in case. They don't really bother me in ghost form, just ask a few questions about where Phantom is and why I look like him. I use really vague and mysterious answers, which is fun! Of course, Val- well, the Red Huntress- vouching for me also helps a bit."

There was that wistful tone again, Danny bit his tongue to keep from laughing and started walking down the path to the town.

"And they still think I'm at camp?"

"Yup. Where're you going to live there anyways?"

"There's a tourist trap type of place farther into the town, and it offers boarding for a rather extravagant price and babysitting, but whatever, it works fine."

"Really, a tourist trap? The heck kinda town is this?"

"An odd one. I can already feel the paranormal energy, and I'm not even in the town yet. Though, it seems to be coming from the creepy forest rather than the town itself."

Suddenly there was some rustling and muttering, and Tucker's voice came through the earphones.

"Wait, did you say babysitting?"

Though the tips of his ears turned a bit red, he nodded out of habit as he spoke.

"Yeah, I've gotta watch after these two preteens. They apparently get into a lot of trouble on their own, so their great uncle told me that I could stay if I went with them whereever they get off to and make sure they don't die or anything."

"I hope they at least have wifi or something there."

Danny rolled his ice blue eyes.

"I think I'd be more happy with them not finding out my secret."

"Wifi though."

There was a thud and a yelp on the other end and suddenly Sam had the phone again.

"Yeah Danny, try to keep Phantom on the down-low here, after all this place probably isn't used to stuff like Amity Park is."

"Alright, Sam, I will. I gotta go, wouldn't want to seem more unusual to the locals. Tell Jazz to call me sometime, I gotta talk to her."

"Got it. Bye Danny. Be careful."

"I'll try my best."

Danny tried and failed to not blush as the other two people made kissing noises in the background. Those two had been smug as hell after Sam and Danny finally got together, after an incident with a ghost-proofed closet and the first day of April. Two consecutive thumps and yelps were heard, and Danny grinned. They'd never learn.

"Thanks, Sam. Alright, bye guys!"

A chorus of byes rang through the phone before the call went dead. Danny sighed and stuffed the Fenton Phones into his pockets, and brushed a hand through his hair.

Somehow, he didn't think his trip would be that simple.

* * *

"KIDS! GET DOWN HERE!"

Dipper winced at his gruncle's terrible sense of volume and sat up on his bed. He had been trying to read some of the more illegible entries in the journal, to his growing frustration. The short brown-haired boy closed the leather-bound book and slid it into his vest, hopping off his messy bed and heading down to where Stan was waiting impatiently. Hopefully this wouldn't be another irritating chore, Dipper thought grumpily as he made his way downstairs. Stan was standing in the living room in front of the turned-off TV, tapping his foot. Mabel was already there, having been playing with Waddles down in the shop or something beforehand. Stan looked slightly appeased, like he had been informed of something pleasing. Dipper hoped that he wouldn't have to dress up for an exhibit again. That had been the epitome of embarrassing. He turned his attention to his fez-wearing great uncle, still fiddling with his vest.

"Kids, we have a guest staying here for a while."

Mabel and Dipper were both instantly curious and a bit apprehensive (on Dipper's part).

"What? Where are they going to stay? All the rooms are full."

"He's taking the couch."

"Does he know he's taking the couch?"

"Nope."

Mabel frowned a little, confused, and Dipper resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Stan continued.

"The point here is that he's paying to stay here and it's your job to make sure he doesn't get into anything dangerous while he's here. He's got some crazy parents, so he's probably a bit whacked as well. I told him to keep an eye on you two, so he's more or less your responsibility for the two weeks he's staying here. Make sure he doesn't steal anything."

Mabel seemed fairly enthusiastic about a new face, but Dipper was wary.

"How old is he?"

"Sixteen. Now clean up a bit, I don't want him trying to leave without paying or something because the house is gross."

The twins groaned and reluctantly did as he asked, shuffling trash away and making the house look at least a little presentable. As they did, they talked.

"Mabel, how am I supposed to investigate the stuff in the journal with this guy around?"

"Just bring him with us, of course."

"What?! Mabel, we can't tell him about the book!"

"I didn't say that, Dipping Sauce, he can just tag along and not know!"

"Don't you think maybe he'll notice all the weird stuff going on?"

"Like the rest of the town notices? Plus his parents are apparently whack-o, he might just dismiss it as a prank or something."

"Fair point."

"Plus, if he does think something weird is going on, I can persuade him not to tell with stickers!"

Dipper snorted at his sister's antics as she pulled a sheet of stickers out of her sweater and waved them around. Waddles snuffled from his spot on the floor. The shop bell rang and Dipper heaved himself off the couch, where he'd taken refuge from cleaning, and walked through the push door into the shop, Mabel following his lead. A few customers were looking skeptically at a basket of broken glass and the ginger cashier was dutifully ignoring them. Wendy had her boots up on the counter, a magazine hiding her face. Dipper took a moment to compose himself before walking up to her.

"Hey Wendy, did Stan tell you about the new guy staying here for a while?"

The redhead shuffled her magazine closed and looked at him curiously.

"No, what new guy? Is he working here?"

"No, he's just staying in town for a while. I guess Mabel and I are supposed to make sure he doesn't get into trouble or anything."

Mabel nodded seriously. Wendy snorted.

"Get into trouble? What is he, six?"

"More like sixteen, actually."

"Oh. Teenagers, small children, either way trouble is a factor, I guess."

Mabel nodded again, sagely. Whilst still cradling her pig. She then went to fish around in some of the boxes on the other side of the store, looking for something or another.

"Heheh, yeah. Have you seen Soos around?"

"Nah, sorry man."

"It's fine, I'm gonna go look for him."

"Cool."

With Wendy's magazine back in place, Dipper headed outside, figuring he probably wouldn't find Soos inside if he hadn't already. The bell rang behind him and Mabel trotted up, carrying Waddles like a baby.

"Where're ya going, Dip?"

"Looking around for Soos. I want to warn him about our guest so he doesn't freak out or something else Soos-ish."

"O-K! I'm going to go see if Candy or Grenda are at the diner. Wanna look for Soos there?"

"That's a good place as any to start, I suppose."

Dipper shivered as he got into the golf cart, a feeling of foreboding making its way up his spine. Whoever this new guy was, he had a odd feeling about him. Who just showed up and volunteered to watch two kids and pay what was probably an extravagant amount of money just to stay in a tourist trap? It was confusing and suspicious. He couldn't risk letting him figure out about the books, after all, they didn't want another Gideon messing around with magical artifacts. He might even be like Robbie and run at the sight of anything supernatural, which would be just his luck, although better than the former option. Either way, he had to keep his book out of the new guy's hands. Or anyone else's for that matter. Of course, this guy wasn't used to Gravity Falls weirdness. He'd probably be scared off before the week ended, if they were lucky. Hopefully.

Somehow, it was never that easy.

**Hope I didn't do too bad! If you liked it, you could tell me what you think!**

**Until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! I have some stuff to say, but before anything else! I have to tell you that the cover was not made by me! It's by thecottonproject on tumblr, and it was part of the reason I finally got this story down on metaphorical paper. Her art is amazing, and if you're a fan of the Percy Jackson series, you should definitely check it out!**

**Another important note, I will not be giving up on this story! I'm very excited to finally get it all written, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon, even though updating may take some time. That said, if I ever do need a break or just run out of inspiration entirely, I will leave some kind of message explaining this.**

**Just so nobody gets confused, you all should know that earlier chapters might be slightly edited at any given time to make the flow of dialogue or actions smoother, because I always end up nitpicking my work, whoops! If you have any recommendations on characterization or anything, I'm completely open to them!**

**Alright, alright, on to the chapter!**

Chapter 2

Danny looked around somewhat warily at the buildings. Gravity Falls was, in appearance, a small town with a close-knit community, just like Amity. Really, it was the odd supernatural feeling in the air that put his teeth on edge, made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and had him glancing behind him every once in a while. Amity also had the supernatural element, but it felt somehow different here. More varied, somehow. And it didn't help that the odd feeling didn't seem to bother any of the other residents, who only shot him curious glances, probably due to him being a newcomer.

That was another thing. The people living here were rather odd themselves. He wasn't really in any position to judge, but he did happen to notice that there was an entire family of plaid-wearing lumberjacks, a small news reporter with a whining tilt to his voice, and a hunched-over bearded old man who had stared, not blinking once, at him the whole time he'd been in his line of sight. It was rather unnerving. The town did have the attitude of a large cheery family, but in a distant relatives sort of way. Nobody was acting like they'd ever seen anything suspicious here, which was odd, considering they were surrounded by miles of supernatural creature territory as far as he could tell.

He dodged past a car and then kept shuffling along, glancing around still. Still nothing but pedestrians. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a mechanical ghost signature tracker, which was probably dubbed by Fenton-Something-Or-Another. His Ghost Sense could only take him so far, particularly when there were a hundred other things in that forest that were also barely irritating his ghost core, making most of his breaths frostier than normal. The screen lit upon two large blips, farther out, and Danny sighed and walked on.

It wasn't until after he had passed two policemen doing absolutely nothing productive and a tilted water tower that he finally could see his destination. An old 24-hour convenience store, long abandoned, sat past a large fence. The dots on the screen were right here. He stuffed the machine back in his pocket and let the bright white rings of energy form around him, transforming his clothes to a full body jumpsuit, and his hair to white. His eyes shone an unnatural neon green as he floated past the fence and over to the store. The doors were unlocked, which was odd. Maybe somebody had broke in? Hopefully whoever it was didn't catch the attention of either of the ghosts here now. A gust of cold air materialized in his lungs as he stepped through the doorway, making him shudder as he exhaled that familiar foggy breath. The store was frankly a mess. The shelves were haphazardly strewn around the room, and the food was everywhere, thought strangely untouched by vermin. He carefully made his way through the piles of food and wrappers and machines, not really sure what he was looking for. His slight glow made it easy to see the area around him, but it also meant that the flickering light wasn't illuminating the dark corners the daylight outside couldn't reach. He suddenly felt like a shock had been sent up his spine, and he looked down, where a line of white paint marked two body-shaped outlines. The ground started to glow, and he stepped back quickly, not wanting to be caught off guard. Like a sticker being peeled of it's sheet, two transparent people appeared, looking extremely stern and intimidating.

...That is, they would have looked intensely intimidating if they weren't an old couple that you would typically see feeding pigeons in the park.

Danny blinked, startled. The two people were definitely no longer living, but they were transparent, barely flickering. They looked more like holograms than ghosts. As if he needed more reassurance, his Ghost Sense eked out of his mouth in his next breath, for the second time. He shifted into a defensive stance, a mix of both wariness and curiosity fueling his movements. These two didn't look like they could cause much damage, but then again, if there was one thing he had learned from fighting ghosts; it was that appearances could be deceiving. Just look at the Lunch Lady.

There was a beat of silence before Danny finally tried to communicate.

"Um, hi! I'm-"

"Oh, we know who you are, Phantom!"

Danny drooped slightly. Those words were generally a bad sign. But the woman had a cheery tone, giving him somewhat mixed signals. Before he could work up the correct way to phrase the question "Are you going to try and attack me?" politely, the grey-haired old man spoke up.

"So violent, always looking for trouble, you're quite the teenager!"

The halfa winced, but then, without missing a beat, the woman continued.

"But then again, teenagers don't spend their time being loyal and heroic like you either…"

"So you aren't as bad as most of them, but you could definitely use some shaping up!"

The white-haired boy quirked an eyebrow, and then suddenly had the air driven out of his lungs by a blow to the back. He reached for the object that had rammed itself against his spine, and retrieved… a can of anchovies? Gross. He tried not to wrinkle his nose in distaste.

"Stand up straight, boy, you'll be ringing bells at the Notre Dame with how slouched you are!"

Figuring it was better to try and not fight with any supernatural residents when he'd only just arrived, he straightened up his spine, which was hard to do when you're floating in midair. However, before he had a chance to try and say anything, more demands were directed at him.

"Shoulders back!"

"Chin up!"

"Be respectful to your elders! Look us in the eye!"

"Keep your posture straight!"

"I don't think-"

"When addressing someone, use sir or ma'am!"

"Ma'am, can I mayb-"

"I don't know, _can_ you?"

"_May_ I just get a mome-"

"_Back straight!_"

"You know, it's hard to-"

The more he messed up, the more upset the two seemed to get. If he took a second too long to respond, some kind of packaged food would run into him. It was like the Box Ghost, but worse. He was about to just give up on diplomacy and unhook the thermos from his belt when a small chiming ringtone made all three of them pause. Danny held back a groan. _Of all the times for Jazz to call…_ The couple's eyes seemed to be aflame. He took a deep breath and straightened his back.

"Back in my day, we didn't have those rude, compact devices interrupting conversations like that-"

"Sir and ma'am, may I _please_ step outside for a moment to answer this call? It's my older sister, and I'd hate to be rude and ignore her."

They looked conflicted for a moment, before deciding the polite statement overruled the use of technology, and nodding. Danny pulled his Fenton Phones out of his pocket as he bolted out the door and stopped just next to the fence, far away from eavesdroppers. He turned the earphones on.

"Hello?"

"Danny!"

"Hey Jazz. Look, right now isn't exactly the best time-"

"What's going on? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm just trying to deal with these two ghosts, they're really weak but they're also an old couple and I don't really want to fight them if I can avoid it…"

"Are they in a public area?"

"Well, no-"

"Couldn't you just leave it for later then? This is kind of important."

"Alright, alright. They aren't bothering anyone anyways. I'll make another visit later."

Casting a glance back at the store, which looked perfectly normal, if a bit creepy, Danny phased through the gate and then let the white rings rematerialize around his waist again, making him mortal. He turned his attention back to Jazz, who was waiting patiently, as he began walking back to find a restaurant.

"I'm back."

"Good. Now Danny, I've been keeping track of which ghosts show up for a while now, to help out Dani and the Red Huntress. And I think Ghost X might have a bit of a problem…"

Danny grinned as he listened to his sister stubbornly refer to various ghosts by her odd labels, and ramble on about possible psychological issues with several ghosts that he could help her with. After hearing about how Danny had been able to form friendly relationships with ghosts, she had immediately volunteered to help any who needed therapy or help. She was more or less famous in the Ghost Zone for it.

Speaking of the Ghost Zone…

"Hey, uh, Jazz? There's something I need to talk to you about, but it doesn't really feel very private out here in the woods, so can I call you back once I've gotten settled in? It's… it's about why I suddenly accepted Clockwork's offer."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, like she was surprised he wanted to talk psychology to her, before she answered warmly.

"Sure, Danny. We can talk later. Go be friendly. Here you don't have to keep up your act, so maybe you'll make some good friends."

"Thanks, Jazz. Alright, bye."

He ended the call and put away the Fenton Phones, feeling slightly cheered at his sister's call, however short it had been. He hoisted his backpack up farther on his back, and then headed for the tourist trap he was supposed to be staying in.

Next stop, the Mystery Shack.

* * *

Mabel tightened her grip on Waddles as she tilted slightly because of the sharp turn her brother was taking. She kind of wanted to complain, but really, she wasn't much better at driving the cart, so she held her tongue.

Her brother was more worried than usual, which she had considered impossible, considering how much he already fretted on a day-to-day basis. She wondered where he found all the energy to worry about small stuff like he did. Even now, while he was driving the little golf cart, his foot tapped and his brow was furrowed in frustration. What was he so worried about? Oh yeah, the stranger that was supposed to come over sometime today. She supposed it was kinda weird that he was planning on living in the Mystery Shack, what with it being a tourist trap and everything, but was that really so suspicious? Of course, knowing Dipper, he probably thought the guest was a ghost or a werewolf or something. He was so paranoid sometimes! Maybe the guy was going to be super cool about the whole "elusive mythical creatures that sometimes try to attack you" thing and they could let him in on their previous adventures. That'd be so _awesome_! Then again, he could also turn out to be a huge jerk like Robbie, which would suck. Oh well. If that happened she'd just have to set Waddles on him. She looked down fondly at the content pig in her arms as she hopped off the golf cart and followed Dipper into the diner.

The twins walked in and looked around the cheerful diner. It wasn't too crowded, because it was between meal times, but there were still some people hanging out nearby. Mabel immediately noticed her two friends sitting in a booth. She grinned, but then frowned discontentedly as she took in the scene. Candy had her face buried in her striped sleeves, and Grenda was patting her comfortingly on the back. Well, she was trying to be comforting, but it looked a little like the smaller girl was being driven into the table with each pat. Mabel hurried over to them, balancing Waddles on her hip and then plopping him down into the booth when she got there.

"Candy? Grenda? What's wrong?"

Candy, whose head had shot up at Mabel's concerned voice, started sobbing anew, and Grenda's face was downcast.

"It's awful, Mabel! Pancho went missing last night, and nobody's seen him!"

Mabel gasped. Pancho was Candy's Green Cheek Conure, and he was practically a house bird. Sometimes when the girls were hanging out they would bring Pancho, Waddles, and Allie(Grenda's iguana) and let the three unlikely pets interact. Their interaction mainly consisted of them ruining furniture by gnawing on it, but it was still cute. Pancho was a very mild-mannered bird. He rarely went out, and was more or less domesticated. Mabel furrowed her eyebrows in a determined expression. Whoever had stolen him away had to be dealt with!

"What?! How did he go missing?"

Grenda looked at Candy, who had regained some of her composure. She adjusted her glasses and started talking with sniffles interjected inbetween words.

"I was, getting some water last night… and I heard something like music from my living room, a-and so I thought it was just him singing… o-or something… but then I heard a crash… so I ran in… and… and… there was this shadowy figure… and it took him…!"

Candy collapsed into sobs again. Grenda continued to comfort her. Mabel patted her friends shoulder in concern, thinking hard. Suddenly, the metaphorical light bulb lit up over her head.

"No way, girls! I've got an idea!"

Both of her friends looked at her hopefully, Candy with red-rimmed puffy eyes. Mabel held up a finger, and then paused. Dipper's book would have more information on whatever the heck it was that stole Candy's animal companion, but he would definitely be super paranoid and gross about letting Candy and Grenda see… She pursed her lips, and then looked over where her brother was talking to Soos. She would need his help, even if it was dangerous. He'd be willing to help her find Pancho, but he definitely wouldn't want to show them the book. Mabel mentally shrugged. Candy and Grenda didn't have to see it, they just needed to use it to save Pancho. Her friends would be way more focused on saving the bird than some old book her brother had.

"Mabel?"

Pulled out of her thoughts, Mabel turned back to Candy.

"I know what to do. But I have to go talk to Dipper really quick, hold on just a second, girls."

After receiving confused nods from both her friends, she trotted over to where her scrawny brother was talking to Soos, catching part of their conversation.

"No, seriously, Soos. It's weird, right?"

"Maybe he's some kind of supernatural thingum."

"That's what _I've_ been thinking!"

Mabel rolled her eyes and pushed the front of Dipper's cap down over his eyes to get his attention.

"Dipper, I need to talk to you about something! It's important!"

After Mabel persisting in punching him in the arm repeatedly for about ten seconds to hurry him up, Dipper rolled his eyes and followed his sister out of the diner. Mabel quickly summarized what was happening. Dipper's face went from aggravated to more and more concerned and interested throughout her explanation.

"So this thing is stealing pets? Or just birds?"

"I dunno Dipper, but either way we've got to save Pancho! Quick, look it up in the book thing!"

"Alright, alright, hold on."

Mabel shifted in place impatiently while Dipper spent a good seven minutes flipping through the pages. Eventually, he slowed down on one page, and Mabel peered over to look as well.

The page was labeled Avinean, and there was an illustration of a shadowy figure holding an ornate flute. Music notes surrounded it along with a large number of birds. Mabel scanned the slanted handwriting on the page.

'The Avinean is a shadow-like figure that has been mistaken in the past for an angel, due to the plethora of birds following it. You'll be able to tell if one is awake and near, because birds will disappear or be seen flying in circles confusedly for days. The shadowy figure uses a flute to lure birds to it by imitating their birdsong. Then the Avinean will have complete control over them, able to manipulate them with the tone of the flute. Using this, it can propel the birds to attack people. Because the Avinean has no need for oxygen, it will be able to play the music without stopping. The only way to stop it is to destroy the flute. This often sends it back into a regenerative state, in which it will work up the energy to form another flute. Until it is woken again, it will remain dormant.'

The brown-haired girl tilted her head, curious. That would explain why Pancho had left, and the weird noises Candy had heard were probably the flute.

"D'you think that's what's going on?"

Dipper jumped, unaware she had been so close. He shuffled a step away, maintaining his personal space, and contemplated for a moment more before answering.

"I think this might be it. It all adds up."

Mabel fist-pumped.

"But, we're going to need more than just knowledge if we wanna get a flute from this thing."

"I'll get my GRAPPLING HOOK!"

"I was thinking more along the lines of armor or something, but hey, that works too."

**Yes, believe it or not, this thing has plot! The Avinean is my original creation, so don't bother trying to look it up, the closest you'll get is an address in Finland. What you _should_** **look up is the Green Cheek Conure, because it is absolutely adorable! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. Not gonna lie, I really wanted Danny to get bullied by these dorky ghosts, so I made it happen. Unfortunately, the twins haven't encountered our favorite halfa yet, that's next chapter! Alright, if you liked it, let me know!**

**Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hahaha... I am so sorry. I wish I could tell you that I only had a hard time because of technology, (which was part of it, considering I lost three drafts for this chapter) but I honestly was just having Writers Block hit me like a brick, along with summer just beginning like a month ago? Without a set routine, I end up procrastinating on setting a time to write, and so basically the reason this chapter is so late is that I was bombarded by terrible circumstances! I really am sorry for the delay and any error you might find in this, because I'm posting it via mobile due to my tablet shutting down on me. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy this chapter I will go back and edit later. I feel like it's a bit jumpy, but I honestly tried really hard on this chapter, so please just bare with me until I get my writing back in order! Thanks!**

Chapter 3

Consciousness hit Danny like, well, a golf cart. Instinctively, he tensed, reflexes from years of ghost hunting kicking in, and sat straight up, barely managing to open his eyes before a headache, reminiscent to being hit in the back of the head with a sledgehammer, made itself known. He dimly heard shouts of alarm, but the pain in his head and chest was the priority, and he slowly lowered himself back into a laying position, his mind a confused mess. Panic and pain surged through him, and he took a deep breath and assessed his surroundings first. There weren't any restraints on him and he wasn't in his ghost form, so he hadn't gotten injured like this from ghost hunters... That's right, he had gone to a new weird town at Clockwork's request. He had encountered some people and a few ghosts.. and then started walking with the intention of finding his rented lodging.

He had gotten lost embarrassingly fast, and was more or less wandering around the only discernible path. He was glad that nobody had been around, because he had been trying to narrow down which direction this odd buzzing was coming from, by tilting his head this way and that, and blocking out all the other white noise. Despite tapping into his increased senses, it was like trying to find a cricket. The noise was everywhere at once, an irritating and constant barrage of tones. He had more or less given up on it after a frustrating fifteen minutes, and focused on trying to hear human voices on the path ahead, intending to ask for directions, again. What he hadn't expected was that the noise would come from behind him, and he had turned around just in time to see the front of an out of control golf cart about a second from hitting him. He panicked, forgetting about the whole 'ghost powers' and instead trying to dodge, stupidly. Reflexes were hard to counter with logic. His backpack was knocked off of him by the force. He heard the tell-tale crack of a rib or two before he felt it, and in his admittedly weaker form, his body had decided that blacking out was preferable at the moment.

And now he was awake and regretting that decision, as he _naturally_ ended up panicking, but it obviously hadn't been more than a few minutes, because he was still outside and he could hear frantic voices inquiring his well-being above him. He resisted the urge to tell whoever was asking that that was one hell of a standard question, if only because they sounded like kids, or at least not adults. He took another few seconds to pity himself and whoever was probably contemplating calling the morgue for him right now. Letting out a long sigh, he cracked his eyes open, and adjusted to the blinding light. As soon as his pupils stopped constricting, he focused on the two kids in his line of sight, a boy and girl.

They were probably siblings, maybe even twins, with similar features and the same bushy brown hair on both of them. The girl was wearing a large, warm-looking sweater and a sparkly headband, while the boy had a navy blue vest and wore a pine tree hat on his head. They also wore matching expressions of worry as well, and Danny couldn't blame them, considering that if it was anyone else hit by that speeding vehicle, they'd need medical attention immediately. He tried desperately not to roll his ice blue eyes as both of them froze like they'd been caught kicking a puppy and, after a beat of silence, started blurting out apologies and half-formed explanations. Danny grinned an easy smile, letting his rather unnerving stare melt away and leaving his normal friendly persona behind. Both of the kids relaxed slightly, and exchanged glances, communicating silently. Danny recognized the action from months of participating in it with Tucker and Sam. He shifted and pushed himself up, unable to hold back a wince.

Luckily for him, his accelerated healing had kicked in, but his entire chest still felt badly bruised, and now that he was awake and moving, the healing process would slow to a crawl. Unluckily, it had been a while since he'd received such a beating in his human half, considering how superficial most of the bullying at school was. He might end up with a minor injury from a punch or two from Dash, but generally, nothing like this. Sure, he had his fair share of body-shaped imprints in buildings and cements and really anything in the town that had been nearby in one of his ghost fights, but those were all in his ghost form, and it could take quite a bit more damage. He looked up from his slightly hunched position to see two more people other than the siblings currently fretting over him. There was a girl with brown hair in pigtails and a strong body type, similar to his dad's, standing tall next to a smaller Asian girl with long straight black hair and teal glasses, both also looking worried. Danny resisted the urge to flush in embarrassment. He didn't normal garner a lot of attention in his human form, partially because he was good at blending in and also because he didn't want any searching eyes on the person with striking resemblance to Phantom. He belatedly realized they had all gone quiet and were staring at him, waiting for him to speak. He fumbled for words, and more or less blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"What hit me?"

He tried, in a joking tone, but the kids all looked even more guilty. Great job, Fenton. He tried to smile reassuringly again, although he was sure it was streaked with traces of pain. Might actually be more of a grimace at this point. He should probably answer the steady stream of questions that had quickly restarted, as soon as he focused enough to actually process them. He realized he might just be slightly concussed. He decided instead to ask a question of his own. That was much easier.

"So, why were you guys driving a golf cart down a hill at forty miles an hour?"

Surprisingly enough, they all went silent at the query, and exchanged those we-know-something-you-don't looks. He was starting to understand why it irritated Jazz when he did that with Sam and Tucker. Finally, the sweater girl tilted her head in curiosity and asked a question in response.

"You didn't see the birds?"

Danny thought back. He had seen a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye, but was more focused on the cart barreling towards him at a frightening rate. He slowly shook his head, sitting up completely despite the pain. The glasses girl spoke.

"They did all fly away at the very last second. I wonder what scared them off?"

Danny scrunched his face up in confusion. What birds? Before he could try and ask, the brown haired boy with the pine tree hat narrowed suspicious eyes at him.

"What are you doing out here walking in the forest?"

The halfa in question aimed still slightly fuzzy eyes at the boy and stared for a moment while trying to recall his exact reason.

"...Oh, yeah!"

He reached into his pants pocket, fumbled around a bit, and pulled out the piece of paper he had written down names and other important details on.

"I was looking for a.. Mystery Shack? I was supposed to be boarding there for a little while."

The girl in the sweater groaned abruptly and slapped her hand on the front of her face in exasperation. Her brother rolled his eyes at her.

"Great job, Mabel, just hit our new tenant with a golf cart, I'm sure that's not grounds for all kinds of law suits."

The girl, Mabel, dropped her hand and met Danny's eyes again.

"I am so sorry, I guarantee I did not mean to hit you with a golf cart!"

The half-ghost boy in question raised an eyebrow.

"Well I'm glad that it wasn't intentional, at least."

He smiled lopsidedly to show her he was just kidding. She blushed in embarrassment. He switched his warm gaze to the boy and then back to Mabel.

"Are you two twins?"

"Yeah, I'm Dipper."

"And I'm taller than him! And these two are my friends, Candy and Grenda!" Mabel gestured emphatically to the other two girls, first the shorter one, and then the more muscular one, who both also looked intrigued, now that it was confirmed he wasn't going to roll over and die. Danny nodded in understanding, ignoring the admittedly smaller jolt of pain. Thank god for ghostly healing.

"Well, nice to meet you guys, even if at the cost of my health. I'm Danny. ...So, does anyone know where the Mystery Shack place is?"

The twins grinned simultaneously.

"Well, considering we're staying there for the summer, I would hope so."

Danny stared at them for a moment. So these were the two kids the building owner wanted him to babysit? Just going by their startling first encounter, they were going to be more of a handful than previously anticipated. He had to worry about them _and_ finding whoever he was supposed to find in this odd town? Just great.

* * *

Dipper was conflicted. So far, Danny seemed so normal in personality and appearance, it was almost an abnormality in itself, especially considering the people of this town. He was friendly, unassuming, and completely average at first glance. But... the more inquisitive twin couldn't quite shake the feeling that he was off somehow, even though it was only a subconscious thing. Considering the fact that he had been introduced to them via a near death experience, he was being surprisingly calm. Maybe he was used to this kind of thing? Dipper shook his head. He probably was in disbelief or something, like most of the town about all the odd stuff that happens here. No matter where he was from, it couldn't be weirder than Gravity Falls.

Speaking of weird things, the golf cart incident was one of them.

They had been heading for the Mystery Shack to get some tools to scout out the woods for Candy's bird. Mabel had been driving the cart, and Dipper was in the passenger seat, turned around in order to ask Candy questions about how Pancho had been taken, and talking to himself to come up with a plan(it was less effective than writing it down, but Dipper didn't have any paper). He had stopped halfway through after noticing that the hum of the golf cart engine had faded into a murmur. He stuck his head out the side of the cart, but they weren't slowing down. Regardless, the engine was noticeably quieter, and Dipper noticed that the natural sounds of the woods on with side of them were also muted to practically nonexistent, leaving behind an eerie silence.

It was like somebody had turned down the volume on all the natural background noise.

The other three girl were also silent, noticing the same thing. As if on cue, a flapping sound started to make itself heard, and they all exchanged bewildered looks, and Dipper looked out at the sky. A few black dots that hadn't been there before were overhead. As he watched, more and more flocked to the group of dots, which was, in fact, a flock of birds. He watched, uneasiness growing as the flock got larger and larger, until it was practically a swarm. He started to retract his head as he saw them getting closer, gibbering over the vehicle. He opened his mouth just as they dived as a single entity, but all that was heard was the overwhelming flapping of wings, as his vision was obscured by the various birds, only glimpses of the outside visible.

He saw Mabel with her mouth wide open in a scream, but it was like all sound had been sucked out of the space, except the birds, who made no cries but only flew. Dipper ducked as the claws and beaks of the birds made themselves known on their skin. Dipper reached through the mass of feathers and latched onto his sister's sweater, reassuring himself that she was there. The cart spun out of control spectacularly, spinning down the hill and gaining speed. Dipper was beginning to consider pulling a tuck and roll when suddenly, as quick as they had come, the birds departed, sweeping away like an ocean wave. They were still spinning, leaving them covered in scratches and _still_ in an out-of-control vehicle. Not for long, however, as in the next second, the cart came to a halt, with a grevious-sounding thump. Dipper turned to his sister to check on her, but found her staring, pale, at the space straight ahead of the cart, hands clutching the wheel. He followed her gaze to where he could only see one part of what had stopped them; a limp hand. He locked eyes with Mabel, identical expressions of horror on their faces.

And so after a few frantic moments of hovering over Danny's unconscious body and debating calling the mostly useless police officers, the black haired boy woke up. He startled all of them by jolting up like he'd been electrocuted, and then laying back down, clearly in pain. Luckily, his backpack had only been on one of his shoulders, so it now sat innocently a few feet away from where he'd been run over. He was friendly enough after getting oriented, but Dipper had seen his cold gaze when he first opened his eyes, only for an instant, wary and guarded. And now he was halfway sitting up, still looking worryingly dazed. He suddenly zeroed in on them, like he had just noticed something.

"Hey, are you guys okay? You've got a bunch of scratches."

Dipper tried not to groan as he started thinking about the injuries, and consequently no longer was distracted from the pain. The others looked like they felt the same way. Why did this guy even care about a few admittedly painful scratches? He had just gotten hit by a golf cart, after all. Dipper noticed that Danny was sort of hunched over his own stomach. He had gained enough information from all his life threatening experiences to know that he was definitely in pain.

"Is your chest okay?"

He looked down at his chest and back up, and nodded slowly, as to not jostle his head. Dipper raised an eyebrow in doubt, but didn't question him.

"Guys, help me get him into the back of the cart, we'll have to push it the rest of the way back."

The boy in question started to protest, and then cut himself off with a pained yelp as Grenda easily lifted his tall but skinny frame up by his under arms. It was an amusing scene to see as all four kids struggled to maneuver him into the cart, while Danny alternated between protesting and sighing in exasperation. Waddles, who had hid under Mabel's seat during the bird attack, shuffled over to Danny and sat on his stomach. Danny seemed mostly bewildered by the entire situation. Finally, Mabel pushed his leg fully into the small space.

"Your legs are a hazard to yourself and others!"

"I've come to realize that in the last few _excruciatingly long_ minutes."

Dipper tried to lift up the abandoned backpack, he'd seen Danny eyeing it like he wanted to get it, but didn't want to ask them to retrieve it. It was overwhelmingly heavy, and Mabel had to help him push it into the passenger seat.

"Jeez, what do you even _have_ in there?"

"All of my belongings?"

The four mostly uninjured kids took turns pushing the back of the cart and pushing the gas pedal in the front seat. Within about ten minutes, they reached the Mystery Shack, and Dipper noticed Danny mutter something about "taking a page out of his parents book" while looking up at the large sign. Then came another frustrating puzzle: how were they going to get him out of the cart? After a few failed attempts, making Waddles jump off of him, Danny finally just pulled himself up and out, claiming he was completely fine. He still swayed a bit while he walked, but it was barely noticeable. They walked into the gift shop, a small bell ringing to signal their entrance. The taller boy whistled, presumably at all the complete junk being sold there. Grunkle Stan and Wendy were inside, and they both looked over and then did a double take at Danny. Dipper was glad; he wasn't excited about the prospect of explaining all these scratches to the ever-doubtful Stan.

Grunkle Stan walked over, holding a Pitt soda and wearing his eye patch flipped up on his forehead. The picture of a responsible homeowner.

"Who's this?"

Mabel answered first.

"Danny! We ran into him on the way here!" _Literally_.

Candy and Grenda restrained their chuckles behind them. Danny grinned good-naturedly. Grunkle Stan's eyes widened slightly in recognition.

"Danny Fenton?"

"That's me. I'm supposed to be staying here for a while?"

"Yeah. You got rent?"

Danny pulled his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out a couple of bills. Grunkle Stan nodded in approval, shoving the money into his pocket. He turned to the twins.

"I hope you two made a good impression, because he'll be staying here for a while."

Dipper answered first this time, casting a glance at Danny.

"Yeah, we definitely made an _impression_." _With the golf cart. In his side._

This time the shared look and restrained laughter in the group was picked up on by Grunkle Stan, who narrowed his eyes at them.

"Well, good. Show him around."

The group continued snorting despite the situation, as Mabel lead the way through the Shack, gesturing to all the stuff that had accumulated over the years Stan lived here, and Danny nodded attentively to her every word. Dipper was probably the only one who noticed that Danny was also scanning every room, like he was making a mental map of the house in his mind. It wasn't exactly typical teenage behavior, and Dipper furrowed his brow in puzzlement. Whatever weird stuff was up with their new tenant, it was probably more than they had bargained for. Then again, so was _every_ mystery in this town.

**I hope you enjoyed, sorry it's a bit short, but I'll try to update before a month has passed for the next chapter, eh? Review if you liked it, even though I can't currently respond to them, I will as soon as possible! **

**Until next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Did I say I would get this out before a month had passed? Haha... Well... Technically, it hasn't been a month, right? Okay, not funny. Anyone else excited about the new season of Gravity Falls? Comes out August 1st! A week from now, actually.**

**Honestly, I'm a little apprehensive about including my own supernatural creatures in this story, but c'mon. Gravity Falls has so many opportunities to include urban legends and mythical creatures and I personally am not passing up that opportunity! There will definitely be more new creatures in later chapters, along with the introduction of the main plot, hell yeah. I tried to write this from a general 3rd person POV, but I feel like it's more Dipper-centric, so when I get a minute, I'll probably edit it to make it more obviously Dipper's perspective. Next chapter will probably be Danny's perspective, which I'm much better at, so I'll probably get it out sooner. Probably. **

**Anyways, enjoy! **

Chapter 4

As soon as the majority of the unusual tour was more or less over, Dipper was anxious to get ready for their little excursion, after all, they only had so much time to prepare, before it would get dark and hard to navigate the woods. He tired to get all three of his temporary teammates out of the older boy's line of sight so they could start preparing, but Danny was stubborn. He would hear no complaints or protests as he ushered them all into the attic room, asking them to sit down while he searched through his bag, eventually pulling out a compact first aid kit. All four of the younger kids were confused until he gestured to their injuries. They all had shallow scratches on their legs and/or arms, and though they had smartly shielded their faces with their hands, there was still a scratch or two on most of them, and a lot more on their hands. They were shallow, mostly superficial even though they hurt, but that wasn't stopping Danny. He pulled out some antiseptic, and handed it to Candy, watching her wince as she haphazardly applied it. He soon took it back, not unkindly suggesting maybe he should do it instead, since he had more experience. Dipper blinked, confused. Experience in treating injuries? Was he training to be a doctor or something?

The boy in question knelt down in front of Candy first, focusing on her legs and face, since her long sleeved shirt covered her arms. Her long white tights covered her legs, but they were to thing to block the bird's attacks, leaving them ripped up and a bit bloodstained. Instead of asking her to take off the tights, Danny worked around them, delicately covering the cuts with the cream, making sure to not press too hard. He was concentrating, the tip of his tongue poking out of his mouth, as he checked that all her shallow scratches were covered and then moved on to Grenda, looking for the red lines to cover them with the light creme. Dipper glanced at the small, open first aid kit. Despite it's size, it was chock-full of medical supplies, enough to potentially give somebody stitches. Somebody came prepared. Despite his initial impression of Danny, he was having some misgivings. What kind of paranormal creature carried around a _first aid_ kit? Dipper looked back at Danny.

"Why do you have a first aid kit in your bag?"

The raven-haired boy responded without turning from his task.

"I hitch-hiked here, of course I'd bring something in case I fell or something. I can be pretty clumsy."

Danny was a little steadier on his feet since he'd received martial arts lessons from his all-too-eager mom, but it would be a long time before he walked with grace, completely sure on his feet. He was less clumsy in ghost form, but that might just be because he barely walked in that form. Why would he, when he could fly?

"Really?"

Dipper didn't sound very convinced. Although that _would _explain the experience thing.

"Yeah, or maybe I'll need it for the next time I get hit by a golf cart on-the-loose."

Danny grinned easily, joking just as he had earlier. Dipper couldn't help but shift his weight, uncomfortable with the fact that Danny was probably still hurting from that, and yet he was making jokes? Mabel, Grenda, and Candy also looked a little uncomfortable, and guilt was evident on Mabel's face. The almost-roadkill boy in question raised his head, noticing the stretching silence. He tried to lighten the mood as he checked that Grenda's scratches were covered and moved on to Mabel.

"Guys, don't worry about that, I'm tougher than I look. My dad drives like a maniac around town, so I've had a couple close calls with speeding vehicles before. Plus the cart only glanced my side, I'll live."

Mabel, who had been looking guilty up until now, was currently looking at the boy with her face scrunched up in confusion and her head tilted. Dipper made eye contact with her, did he say something odd? His twin switched her gaze between her brother and Danny, before shaking her head slightly at Dipper. _I'll tell you later. _Danny didn't notice, focused on the task at hand. There was a lull where nobody talked except Candy and Grenda, both of whom were muttering to each other and laughing, looking over to where Mabel was almost done getting her cuts covered. A few threads on her sweater had been pulled by the bird attack, but overall she was okay. She did have a few more injuries on her face, because she'd been driving instead of covering it.

Dipper watched Mabel immediately jump off her bed and see what her two friends were talking about as soon as Danny deemed her okay. Danny came over to him last, looking over the scratches on his arms and legs before getting to work. Dipper had previously thought that Candy and Grenda were looking over their shoulders at Mabel, waiting for her to be done, but even now they snuck glances at them, Danny specifically. Knowing his sister, that probably meant that they were going into full on girl-crush mode. He pitied him. The younger boy shook his head, and the movement caught Danny's attention. He glanced at Dipper out of the corner of his eye.

"What?"

"Er, nothing."

Better he figure it out on his own, maybe it would take long enough for him to figure it out and they would move on to another unsuspecting target. The older boy in question still had an eyebrow raised, and Dipper quickly changed the subject.

"So where'd you say you came from?"

"Hmm? Oh, Amity Park, Illinois."

The name sounded vaguely familiar, but the memory was shoved back in favor of disbelief.

"And you _hitch-hiked_ here? All the way to Oregon?"

"Well., I got a taxi to drop me off in town, but I mostly hitch-hiked, yeah."

"Jeez, why didn't you just drive or something?"

"I don't have a license yet." _Don't really need one, honestly._

"Who do you live with?"

"I-"

Danny was cut off by a loud thud and a screech, causing everyone else to jump and look at the triangular window. Danny was the only one who didn't freeze at the sight of a large bird-of-prey scratching angrily at the window. He stood up, and started walking to the window. Mabel started to call out a soft warning.

"Danny, don't..."

The bird, which had previously been hurling itself against the weakening window, caught sight of him and took off, propelling itself away. Danny looked back at the others, confused.

"What was that, a hawk? What in the world..."

There was another uneasy silence as they all exchanged bewildered looks, and then Dipper quickly changed the subject, standing up and practically shoving Danny out of the room so the rest of them could talk.

"Well it was nice talking with you but I think I hear Stan calling you from downstairs wonder what he wants you'dbettergocheckbye!"

Danny didn't have time to say anything as he was herded out of the room, and he turned around in time to see a panicked Dipper slam the door shut in his face. That was weird. What, did they have a fear of birds or something? The halfa rolled his eyes and headed back downstairs, intending to set up wherever this place had room.

Back inside the room, Dipper paced, thinking hard, while Mabel and co. searched around the room frantically for batteries and flashlights and one slightly bedazzled grappling hook, among other items. Grenda sat back on her haunches, pausing for a moment, and then broke the tense silence with a question.

"You guys saw that too, right? That bird was probably after us, but when Danny went up to it, it flew away!"

Dipper metaphorically leapt on the question like it was an invitation.

"I said there was something off about him! He's probably in the book somewhere!"

Mabel pulled her head out from where she was searching under the bed, a dust bunny or two sticking to her sweater.

"Dipper, you think everyone is suspicious! Danny is _not _a supernatural creature! He's more normal than most of the people in this town!"

"Well, how do you explain the birds being repelled from him then? It happened before too, when we first saw him! All the birds flew away right as we reached him!"

Mabel opened her mouth to shoot back a reply, and then paused, uncertainty coloring her tone.

"...He _was_ kinda lying earlier."

"What? When?"

"When he said the cart only grazed him! I only saw a little bit, but I'm pretty sure we hit him mostly head-on."

Dipper's mouth parted slightly, leaving him looking like a fish. Candy and Grenda had similar reactions.

_"What?_ Why didn't you mention this earlier?! He can't have been hit by a golf cart and be walking around twenty minutes later!"

"I _know_! That's why I was so worried! I didn't think to say anything, I was mostly just glad we didn't have to call the morgue!"

There was a beat of silence, and they all stared at each other. Candy, who looked a little discouraged, offered her input.

"Maybe he is a good supernatural creature, like guardian angel or something."

Dipper's face crinkled in doubt, but Mabel quickly cut in.

"We can talk about this later, right now we need to keep preparing, we have to sneak out before dark!"

Dipper reluctantly nodded, and pulled a mostly empty backpack out from under his bed and started organizing the stuff they had found into it, sans the grappling hook. When they finished, there was a multitude of possibly useful stuff inside, including some bird treats Candy had left at their house on an earlier pet playdate. They shuffled downstairs, hoping to avoid the only slightly concerned responsible person in the building, Danny, and called both Candy's and Grenda's parents to tell them the two were staying the night with Mabel. After getting an affirmative from both, they grabbed makeshift weapons; a shovel, leaf-blower and grappling hook, and baseball bat for Dipper, Mabel, Candy, and Grenda, respectively. Then, all four of them made their way out the Gift Shop entrance and off the porch, heading into the forest.

"What are you guys doing?"

Mabel froze and Dipper mentally groaned. They all turned to see Danny standing on the porch. Didn't the gift shop door have a bell? Was he out here the whole time? The entire group was more or less frozen, remembering their earlier conversation about him possibly being... well, _something_ not human. At the moment, he looked fairly normal. The dark-haired boy furrowed his brow, genuinely curious, and Mabel jabbed Dipper in the side, indicating that he could take this one. He sent his sister a glare and coughed, before stumbling for an excuse.

"Well, uh, we're just going to go try and find a, umm, some..."

He trailed off and Candy cut in, seeing him grasp for a way out.

"I lost my... ring! Yes, my ring in the forest, I need to find it."

Danny nodded as if this made perfect sense, but looked up at the sun slowly beginning to set.

"You guys do know that it's going to get dark soon, right? Why not wait until tomorrow?"

Candy shook her head adamantly, going on in her slightly broken English.

"No, no, if I don't find it, I will be very disheartened. Plus, it glows in the dark. It will be easy to find, very quickly."

The halfa raised an eyebrow, still looking unconvinced.

"Does your gr- grun- uncle let you run around the forest at night? Seems kinda dangerous."

"Stan doesn't even notice- er, he never tells us otherwise."

Danny shrugged. For a moment, Dipper thought they were going to get away with it due to teen apathy, but then-

"I'll tag along then, if that's alright."

The kids exchanged panicked glances.

"No, it's fine, you really don't have to..."

"Eh, I don't have much else to do. Plus, I can help. I've got sharp eyes."

The boy had the familiar stubborn glint in his eyes from earlier as he vaulted over the porch railing and walked over, and Dipper sighed. He turned to Mabel, and quietly spoke.

"Well, I didn't think it was possible, but I've finally found someone more stubborn than you, Mabel. Amazing."

Mabel rolled her eyes at her brother, and then lead the way, pushing through brush and branches. There was tension between all of them as they went deeper into the woods, but apart from the ground underfoot, there was silence, even from Danny, who hadn't called them out on not even bothering to make a show of looking for the ring. The teen seemed oblivious to the glances that were cast back at him, more concentrated on the quickly-darkening forest around them. The forest seemed to make him uneasy. Every so often, Dipper would discreetly check the book, and the map where the Avinean's location was labeled as 'somewhere around here'. As it finally became dark enough to deem it night, the kids passed around and flicked on flashlights. Danny still acted like this was expected, which was almost worse than him freaking out. Maybe he was just really, really oblivious. And blind. Sure.

Dipper was starting to get irritated. Did the book seriously have no better directions than this? Just as he was about to suggest they turn around and search another direction, Danny suddenly stopped, causing the other members of the party to pause as well. He tilted his head, and as Mabel opened her mouth to ask why, he spoke.

"Do you guys hear that?"

They all stopped shuffling and even held their breath, listening to the forest around them. Faintly, there was a loud rustling up ahead. Candy was the first to run forward, and then she paused, shining her light on something up ahead. Everyone hurried their pace to catch up. The three other preteens also froze and their breath seemed to catch in their throats.

In the beam of light, there was a dark, oily-looking raven, writhing around, stuck in, of all things, a dented Pitt Soda can. It's head had fit into the can when it had stuck it in, presumably trying to get the pitt left inside, but it couldn't pull it's head back out. Danny tsked in sympathy and once again, approached the bird when everyone else was immobile. Just like last time, the bird froze when he got close, effectively leaving Danny the only one in the clearing who was moving. He gently picked up the bird, but when he moved to remove the soda can, the bird started flapping one of it's wings in a panic, leaving Danny to quickly remove his hand to keep the bird from panicking itself right out of his hands and onto the hard ground. He looked up to Dipper, who was closest, and gestured with his head for him to come over.

"Here, help me get this can off him, would you?"

Dipper, after trading desperate glances with the others, walked slowly forward and started trying to wiggle the can off it's head, with Danny keeping it firmly in place. After a moment of silence other then the bird's squeaking noises, there was a ruffling sound and the bird's head was free. Danny immediately let go, and the bird took off, causing all of their heads to snap up and follow it.

Surprisingly, it landed on a perch not far away, and trilled at them. Hesitantly, they walked in that direction after exchanging confused looks, and as soon as they got in a five foot range of the tree it was perched on, it took off again, to another farther away but still visible tree. Again, it warbled expectantly at them. Mabel grinned; the bird was helping them!

They followed the bird through the forest for about ten minutes before they came to a clearing, where it looked like a giant mole had popped out of the ground and used the extra dirt to build a cave around the tunnel. They all stopped and stared at the odd cave-tunnel, and Dipper noticed the bird ruffle its feathers like it was shuddering, and then take off. Probably not a good sign.

There was a faint rumbling emanating from the hole, and the by-now-familiar flapping of wings was obvious to those that had been attacked by them before. They all stepped back in alarm, even Danny, who was standing slightly ahead of the rest as if to shield them. There was a fracturing noise, and Dipper pointed his flashlight at the ground, where topsoil was draining into widening cracks in the ground. He yelled in alarm, and quickly latched onto his sister's arm, not willing to get separated. Next to them, Candy and Grenda did the same, and Danny stepped back, waving his arm behind him as a gesture for them to do the same. They managed to carefully take about 5 steps away from the splintering ground before the music started.

It was a haunting song, rising in pitch like a horror movie tune. It started out faint, but it was easy to hear because the forest around them seemed to have gone mute, just like before in the golf cart. The longer they listened, the louder it got, and eventually it was at ear-drum piercing levels. Just as the song reached it's peak, the ground seemed to erupt under their feet, the thin layer of dirt breaking apart all across the clearing. Birds swarmed out like ants from an anthill, or maybe more accurately, bees from a hive. They all immediately took to the air, and they just kept coming, an impossible amount of birds, of all different varieties. In the center of the clearing, in front of the cave, a skeletal figure stood. It was literally thin as a skeleton, decked in all sorts of feathers that were like makeshift clothes from head to toe, excluding the hands, which were gnarled and pale. It was too tall to be human, and this was emphasized by the two patchy dark wings protruding from it's back, limply brushing the ground behind it. It's head was covered in feathers on the back, and a long, birdlike mask on the front, with a long, dark beak where the nose should be. The mouth wasn't easily seen, because the intricately carved wooden flute was seemingly glued to it, with no visible pauses in the constant stream of ear-splitting music. The birds spiraled into the air around it.

With numbers this overwhelming, the birds seemed to have lost all fear of Danny, and rushed the wide-eyed teen like a stampede. The other kids yelled in alarm, but when the steady stream of birds finally passed completely, the spot where the boy had stood was empty except for the flashlight he had been holding. The previously ribbon-like stream of birds condensed back into a swarm, and then a smaller cloud of them split off, hovering in one spot high in the air while the rest of the birds were in constant motion. Dipper squinted, and he could just barely make out a human figure in the moonlight, much higher than it was possible to drop from and land unharmed. Danny was probably terrified. He thought they were wandering out here to find a ring and now he was at risk of becoming a spot on the forest floor. The four kids exchanged varying glances. They had to get that flute away from it.

**Kinda weak ending in my opinion, but hey, I tried. As always, I'll come back and refine it later, and spell check. Thanks to those people who reviewed and showed me where some of my spelling errors are, I really appreciate it! Please review and let me know what you thought! See you guys next update!**


	5. Chapter 5

**SEASON 2 IS RAD :D **

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

Danny Fenton was an avid stargazer. He liked nothing more than to set out a telescope and spend a night sprawled on the grass and watching the sky. It was common for his teachers to say that his head was in the clouds, and, considering he was in fact, Danny Phantom, he quite literally got to fly through the clouds a lot. If asked which power was his favorite, he'd undoubtably respond with flight. But flying, using his own abilities, was one thing.

Being forcibly carried high enough that the air in his lungs was thinner, by a bunch of birds of prey with large sharp talons digging into his skin, while being completely mortal, is another thing _entirely._

He wasn't sure what that thing controlling the birds was, because it sure as hell wasn't a ghost. It had some serious dampening abilities, considering he had felt his normally buzzing excess energy drain away bit by bit as they got closer to the clearing. It dulled his reflexes enough that even though he saw the birds coming, he couldn't jump out of the way in time. For the second time. In one day. He wasn't truly worried until he realized that he couldn't access his ghost core. Normally he can reach a small amount of it in human form, allowing him to stay undercover a lot easier, but the moment that thing made contact with him via vicious birds, it completely sealed off, and it was likely he couldn't use anything without flipping the switch to ghost first. Which he could _not do _considering he was in clear view of all four kids that were obviously already suspicious of him.

He peered through the wings of the birds around him and looked down at said kids. He wouldn't have blamed them if they had run like hell, but no, they were all still there and they were... pulling gardening tools out of their backpacks? So that's why they had a leaf blower. Danny quickly realized that they meant to fight the terrifying-looking bird person who was standing at the base of the cave, and not only did he have a great aerial view of it, but he could do virtually nothing to help. He had his thermos, but what good would that even do against this thing, from this distance? His hero complex was practically murdering him from the inside out. What did these kids even think they could do t-

...Did Mabel just shoot a bunch of pebbles out of a leaf blower at a large bird-controlling creature of death?

Well.

The Birdlord(Not the best nickname but hey, it was better than Invisobill. Marginally.) let out a, you guessed it, bird-like scream of pain as the pebbles were launched at high speed into the approximate area of its gut. Half of the pained yell was directed into the flute, causing a loud screech from the musical instrument. The birds temporarily contorted in different directions in confusion. Mabel finished pelting the Birdlord with small rocks, and temporarily switched the leaf blower off, tossing a grappling hook(?) to Candy. The flute tone changed as the Birdlord glared hatefully at Mabel, and all the birds previously hovering in the air spiraled closer to the ground and formed a wall around the clearing, blocking entry or exit. The kids backed up so they were in a circle, back-to-back with each other. Danny had to admit, he was impressed. They were obviously used to this kind of stuff happening, the twins most of all, and he could see them raising their weapons defensively. He wondered how often they had to deal with stuff like this. What were they even really looking for? He'd eat Tucker's hat if it was really some glow in the dark ring, especially because they brought sort-of weapons. Hopefully they had some semblance of a plan.

The masked creature stalked forward in an unbalanced, jerky manner, looming over the kids. Grenda swung the baseball bat in a smooth arc, warning it off, but it only hesitated before coming closer. It was obvious it didn't expect much from the four invading it's lair, but these kids had done this before. Mabel shouted "NOW!" and turned on the leaf blower, this time on reverse. She shoved it forward into the Birdlord's general gut area and then pulled back, anchoring it in one spot, and Candy ran forward with the grappling hook. She took aim and fired, not for the skeletal figure, but for the flute one hand held to it's mouth. It struck dead-on, knocking the flute into the air and out of anyones reach. Danny blinked, surprised. The Birdlord screeched, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, but the birds around them continued circling, and Danny remained in the air(fortunately). He figured it was because the flute hadn't been destroyed that they were still being controlled somewhat by the Birdlord's directions.

The flute clinked to the ground and immediately, Candy slid past Birdlord and sprinted for it. She managed to get there first, but even as she grasped the flute, the Birdlord caught up, and the other three kids were running too slow! Danny uncomfortably contorted himself to reach his leg, and the Birdlord loomed over Candy, snarling and reaching for her. Just before it could touch her, a shoe slammed into the back of it's head, causing it to whirl around and look up at the currently-grinning teen high up in the air, wearing only one shoe. The fury-filled gaze told him that if it had its flute, he would be a smear on the ground right now.

The distraction provided enough time for the other three kids to reach their comrade. They helped Candy up and Dipper raised his shovel to break the flute. Before he could bring it down, a feathery wing slammed into him, causing him to fly across the clearing and land a ways away. Mabel cried out in alarm and Danny winced in sympathy.

Grenda picked up Mabel and Candy, who was holding the flute, and ran to where Dipper was getting up, setting Mabel down. Dipper took one look at the livid winged creature and then stood, still gripping the shovel.

"Run!"

They all quickly ran into the trees around them, running in the opposite direction of the raging Avinean, and eventually unintentionally splitting up, Candy(and the flute) and Grenda going one direction and Mabel and Dipper going the other. The birds, which had clearly been ordered to go after Mabel just before the flute had been stolen, hesitantly followed the twins in a swarm. The Avinean followed the flute, the jerky movement reminescent of a scarecrow come to life. The energy dampening feeling faded the farther away the creature got. Danny grimaced as he lost sight of the four of them, but then grinned as he realized there was nothing keeping him from getting down and helping now. Well, the whole energy dampening thing was a minor setback but he wasn't about to ditch these kids. He was supposed to be babysitting them, for goodness sake.

He pried the bird talons off of his shoulders and twisted out of the bird huddle, free falling for a terrifying moment, and then the familiar rings of light snapped into existence, and glided over him, turning the slightly unusual teenage human into a slightly more unusual teenage ghost. His grin remained in place a bit longer as he felt the cold rush and energy spread through him, and then dropped into a determined expression as he debated who to go after. On one hand, the twins were probably going to be assaulted by birds, but on the other, they were more experienced, and Candy and Grenda were facing the more dangerous problem. He quickly shot off, invisible and intangible, through the trees. With his speed he caught up to them after about a minute, just in time to see Candy toss Grenda the flute from her spot in the Birdlord's grasp. Grenda caught it and angrily snapped it against a tree trunk, the flute crumbling to dust after breaking. The Birdlord dropped Candy, who rolled after hitting the ground with a thump. Grenda ran forward and helped her friend up for the second time. They watched in mild horror as the Birdlord collapsed, and slowly started fading from view. Just before it disappeared entirely, Danny's ghost sense went off. So it was some kind of spirit, when it didn't have that flute. Well, it was so weak it couldn't hurt anyone now. Danny realized that although the Birdlord had its own luminosity, now the two girls were in complete darkness, and even as they tried to turn on their flashlights, he knew it wouldn't work. The dampening field around the Birdlord had drained any source of energy it could find, including batteries. He would have to lead them out of the woods without being seen.

This would be interesting.

He quickly flew up, looking around until he spotted the Shack a ways away. Returning to ground level, still invisible, he formed a ball of ectoplasmic light in his hand, immediately drawing the attention of both slightly hysterical girls. They stared warily at the seemingly solitary ball of light, and after a few minutes, Candy reached up towards it. He extinguished it before she could make contact; it would burn her. He floated in the direction of the shack and did another one farther away. This time he left it in the air, too high for them to touch, and moved on to do another one farther away, leaving a trail that would extinguish itself about twenty seconds after created. He glanced behind him while making the fifth one, and sure enough, they were following, albeit with a fair amount of suspicion and concern. He went faster, quickly lighting a path to the edge of the woods and the Shack. After checking to make sure they were still following(they were), he went to find the twins, flying above to get a better view.

He soon found them trying to climb a tree to see where they were. They were about halfway up the tree trunk when Dipper fell, dragging Mabel down with him. Danny, dropping intangibility but not invisibility, swooped down and grabbed them both by their respective sweater and vest, slowing their fall and letting them down on unsteady feet. They both instantly turned around, trying to find the source of their rescue, but Danny was, of course, invisible.

"Did you feel that, Mabel?"

"Yeah... What was that?"

Danny ignored them and quickly made a ball of green light again, drawing their attention from their discussion. Dipper was a lot more wary of the lights than the girls had been, so impatiently, Danny made the ball blink and float around. Eventually Mabel got close enough to touch it, and, like before, he made it flicker out. Gradually, he got them to follow again, ignoring the occasional calls of "who's there" or "where are we going" in favor of focusing. He hurried ahead and got to the edge of the forest, Candy and Grenda immediately spotted it and ran over, having just found their way out themselves. The group reunited and Danny quickly flew back far enough in the forest that his ring of light wouldn't be seen, and changed back, roughing up his appearance a bit and then stumbling out into view of the four that were discussing their trip.

Instantly, he was swarmed, both physically and with questions, and he was reminded of their first meeting. He had gotten run over by birds this time. He put up his hands in a calming gesture and reminded himself to act surprised about everything. He was pretty flexible wit believable and non-believable stuff, but that might be because of where he came from, or even what he was. They wouldn't expect complete calm from a normal teen that recently went through a near-death experience. He added a touch of panic to his voice.

"What just happened? With the guy and the birds and the leaf blower?"

All four of them exchanged guilty glances. Before anyone could say anything, a fluttering sound nearby made all of them tense up. They all turned in time to see a colorful bird flutter down to land on Candy's head. The girl squealed in delight, smiling and cradling the disoriented bird in her hands.

"Pancho!"

Danny raised an eyebrow, putting the pieces together.

"That's one odd glow in the dark ring."

* * *

Inside the attic/bedroom, Candy and Grenda cooed over the bird and fed him treats while Dipper and Mabel took up the job of explaining. Well, mostly questioning in Dipper's case. Luckily, Danny had a lot of time to think up an excuse while making light paths for them. It was more of a answer a question, ask a question thing.

"So why'd you really go out there armed and dangerous?"

"We were trying to find Pancho. Candy saw the Avinean take him."

"The Avinean? Oh, Birdlord guy. Got it."

Dipper shot him an odd look.

"You believe us? About the Avinean?"

"Um, dude, I got kidnapped by birds. Yeah, I believe you."

"How did you, y'know, not die?"

Time to tell half truths.

"Well, a bit after you guys ran off with that flute, the birds got all confused and dropped me. Right before I hit the ground, something grabbed me and let me down gently, but I couldn't see what it was. Then these green lights showed up and I followed them back here."

The twins exchanged glances. It was odd how they were so different but still on the same wavelength.

"What's wrong?"

"The same thing happened to all of us. We don't know what it was."

Dipper looked irritated by that, patting his vest in what seemed to be a nervous tic. Danny looked at Mabel, noticing the side glances she sent to her brother and friends, playing with a strand of her hair. They obviously wanted to talk it over, so Danny yawned and stretched.

"Well, I'm exhausted, so I'm going to sleep. But, as soon as possible, I'd like a full explanation. I'm guessing you don't want your great uncle to know?"

Dipper shot him a shocked glance, and then nodded.

"He probably wouldn't believe you anyways. He's convinced nothing's going on like the rest of the town."

Danny nodded back tiredly and headed out the door, stopped by a sudden outburst from Dipper.

"How are you taking this so well? Most people freak out and then deny it afterwards! Why do you believe it?"

Danny smiled in a tired but friendly manner, speaking over his shoulder as he continued out the door.

"I come from a town haunted by ghosts, Dipper. I've seen a lot weirder than this."

* * *

**Well, I updated and thats the important thing, right? ...Right? **

**Hope you guys didn't think Danny would reveal himself this early. Clockwork asked him not to, after all. AKA I love dragging the reveal out dramatically. **

**What'd you guys think of season 2 so far? The Pines singing, Wendy being badass and no longer an awkward love interest, Pacifica and Mabel getting along! I love it, holy crap. I'm a bit disappointed because I had planned to use a shapeshifter and make them run around as Dipper, causing general chaos and stuff, but man I gotta admit that episode was rad. Wendy is rad. Also, anyone else noticed the twin theme in GF? Clones, switching bodies(like a lot of twin themed movies), shapeshifter, the Stanley/Stanford twin theory. Odd. **

**Thinking about doing a short oneshot or collection of oneshots in which you see what Val and Dani(my favorite girls) and maybe the other members of Danny's friends + family as well. Probably humor-based, maybe Valerie figuring Phantom-Fenton stuff out. What do you guys think?**

**As always, thanks for reading!**


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